Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen says rotation is still a mystery

William Perlman/The Star-LedgerMets coach Dan Warthen expects a number of pitchers to compete for the last two spots in the team's starting rotation.

During the first week of January, Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen explained Thursday, the team’s coaching staff convened with members of the front office in their spring training base of Port St. Lucie, Fla. They set goals for the preseason and devised plans for a patchwork pitching staff.

Few spots are set. The team’s best starter, Johan Santana, is on the mend. With R.A. Dickey, Mike Pelfrey and Jonathan Niese locked into the rotation, Warthen expects a collection of faces both fresh and familiar to compete for the other two starting jobs.

The old: Dillon Gee, Pat Misch and Oliver Perez. The new: Boof Bonser, Chris Capuano and D.J. Carrasco. Other names could emerge before spring training begins next month. Once holes in the rotation are filled, then the bullpen can take shape.

The organization chalked out a group of pitchers, Warthen said in a telephone interview, “that we’d like to go out there and at least be competing for the starting job. One or two of them will make that, and we’ll need at least one, maybe two to be the long (relief) guys.”

Warthen offered hope that the team can sign former Padre Chris Young, whom Warthen admired from a distance during his stint as Dodgers bullpen coach in 2006 and 2007.

Otherwise, they will sift through the available options.

Gee, 24, succeeded during a call-up last September, working to a 2.18 ERA in five starts. Warthen expressed confidence in Misch, the veteran swingman with a 3.82 ERA in 2010.

Carrasco, a solid reliever the past three seasons, has a 5.01 ERA in 23 career starts. The other two new options have had arm surgery.

After a decent rookie season for Minnesota in 2006, Bonser became less effective and lost his spot in the Twins’ rotation. He needed shoulder surgery in 2009. Capuano overcame a second Tommy John surgery to return to big-league action last year. He won 18 games for the Brewers in 2005.

“Capuano and Bonser were both throwing the ball extremely well the last month of last year,” Warthen said.

The most expensive choice is Perez, the former 15-game winner whose production evaporated the past two seasons due to injuries and a decrease in velocity. He will earn $12 million this season.

Through 33 innings in the Mexican Pacific League, Perez is saddled with a 5.18 ERA and a 1.13 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

After each appearance, Warthen says he receives an update on Perez’s performance from bullpen catcher Rafael Arroyo, who accompanied Perez to “be a guy that pushes him do his workouts each and every day.”

“At times,” Warthen said, “he thinks that Ollie is up-and-down, and his heart isn’t as in it as much as it should be at times. But he feels good, and he’s getting in shape, and he’s working hard, realizing that this is a big year.”

The results will be on display for Warthen when pitchers and catchers report in February. Until then, he is trying to touch base with his pitchers. He reached out to the new additions. He counseled Pelfrey on rediscovering his sinker. He called Niese while the pitcher was hunting in Florida.